said July 15that it is negotiating a US$5 million capital raise with its major shareholdersto fund the company's immediate working capital needs.

The company has been strugglingwith its finances after the recent suspension of milling activities at itsRunruno goldproject in the Philippines delayed expected income. The fundingneeds include the latest biannual interest payment to the lenders.

Furthermore, talks regarding therestructuring of the US$83 million Runruno facility are taking as MetalsExploration failed to make the required US$15 million capital payment that wasdue June 30.

The miner said it has not yetreached an agreement for the financing. Milling activities at Runrunorecently resumed,along with test running and debugging operations as part of the commissioning process.

The London-listed company'sshares were down over 23% in late morning trade.